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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I don't know about you, but there's been so much going on in my life, so many directions to run in, that I'm feeling positively Frazzled. Not so great, sometimes a bit stressful, jiggety frayed ends of me waving about...Must. Channel. That... Let’s make a Frazzled card!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Blank card and envelope

Fabric large enough to fit the card, front and back (fabric samples work well)

Button

Rayon or other embroidery floss

Glue or double sticky tape

The first thing you’re going to do is choose your fabric. If you have one of those fabric sample books flip through it until you find a piece you like. They’re nice, because they have a paper backing around the edge, but any piece of fabric you like is good.

Take your blank card and open it out flat, and lay it face down on the fabric. By “face down” I mean that you should put the side you’ll write on down, and what would normally be the front of the card facing up. That’s because you’re going to trace around all four sides of the card now, and if your pencil slips you don’t want the marks to show on your finished card.

You can see that my fabric is already nearly the size of the card, but that’s because I had a fabric sample that size. Once you’ve marked your fabric, cut it with pinking shears just outside the marks. You want the fabric to be a little larger than the card. If you have enough fabric, cut a strip as long as your card is wide, maybe an inch wide.

Now choose a button that coordinates with your fabric. Flat buttons work best, but buttons with short shanks can be used, too.

Fold the fabric piece you’ve cut in half, so you’re looking at the front of your finished card. Take the button you’ve chosen, and play with positioning it a bit. Maybe it will look best centered on the card, or maybe near one of the corners. Maybe it wants to sit, centered, near the lower edge. Just move it from place to place until you like what you see.

Thread your needle with the embroidery floss, but don’t tie a knot. Rayon thread is crinkly, and will give shine and a lot of texture. Other option are regular floss, or yarn.

This is where the “Frazzled” part comes in. You’re going to sew the button to the fabric, but not from the back like you’d usually do. Push the needle in from the front, and pull the floss through until an inch and a half or two inches is left, sticking out of the button. Bring the needle through the other hole in the button, and cut the thread, again leaving a tail an inch and a half or two inches long. You can leave longer tails if you like; it’s all up to you.

If your button has four holes, do that twice. Pick up the thread tails and tie them in a knot.

You're almost finished!

Glue the fabric to the card. You can use rubber cement if your fabric has that paper backing. Otherwise, double-sticky tape is the way to go, as the rubber cement may show through the fabric. Glue the extra strip of fabric you cut to the flap of the envelope.

My finished card

Frazzles are really very tactile. You’ll find people want to stroke them, and play with the shiny floss ends.